Tough question! It is 3 a.m. someone wakes you yelling, “What kind of snake is this? Do I kill it?”

Sounds like a silly question to many, but not to me. Everything has a purpose and snakes have theirs.

I stumbled to the door at the back slab porch. All I could see was a long dark grey arrowhead shaped snake already partly injured by the shovel my husband was wielding.

“Okay, go ahead and finish it off.” Man it stunk!

He explained to my snake conserving brain that the dog, “Blue”, a blue heeler, had not barked at it, but had simply alerted my husband to its presence. Before when the dog saw a venomous Copperhead in the same place, he had barked incessantly until we responded.

Since he did not want me to walk out in the early dark, (I’ve been viewing the meteor showers) and step on it, get bit, or scared out of my socks…he decided to take care of it. I suspect the bite of a non-venomous snake might cause a nasty wound anyway.

“Well what am I awake for then!” I understood, but morning hours had me regretting the demise of what is possibly a chicken snake after mice that have moved around close to a water source. Next time maybe I’ll have a better identification on the slithery visitor before its life is extinguished.

Once again, the Texas drought is driving the animals too close for comfort, theirs or ours.

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About texasdna

I love Texas and my Native American (mixed-blood) Indian heritage. It is all in my DNA!